Serval Professional (Serp6): Fans, Suspend, and Hibernate

[isantop]

Good news! We have this fixed! It was an issue related to USB 3 in newer Servals. The fix will be coming down in the System76 Driver in a few days. When it comes, simply update to and run the latest driver to enable the fix.

[pilbender]

I'm absolutely elated about this. Is it possible to gain access to the original source for this driver? I can break apart the driver from the .deb file, but I'd rather not have to if the original source is made available. Then we can use it outside the .deb packaging. Is the driver available as a new module loaded into the kernel for USB 3 or was it some other tweak that had to be made? Is it something that will end up upstream in the kernel from kernel.org?

I think there are a lot of people who would be interested in the Serval if they knew they didn't have to run Ubuntu to make this work. I count myself as one of them. I have a Ubuntu installed on a separate partition now just to test these things, but my primary system will always be Slackware. General hardware compatibility is the reason I bought mine in the first place.

Please let us know as soon as this is available. I will be happy to test, offer feedback and/or troubleshoot as needed to make this work.

Thanks for working on this for us.

scott

[isantop]

I can make an archive of the files it installs (which are all in python), that you can use to extract the original driver. It might be easier and faster to install the latest driver on your Ubuntu Partition and copy over the contents of /opt/system76.

I'll be sure and post an update when that driver comes down.

[pilbender]

Thanks, it's very much appreciated. I'll see what I can do to extract things myself. If I need some assistance, I'll post back here.

If I'm successful, I'll let others know how I did it.

[pilbender]

I'm dying for some updates on this

I also had some other bad behavior but I think it's upstream with the X server. Don't really know. It could also be the Nvidia driver or the BIOS...

Once in a while (like once every few days) my display freezes. I've seen this before with other systems, that is other distros and other hardware. The mouse stops moving the display freezes but whatever was showing still shows, the keyboard no longer works, and only a hard reset will fix it.

The other weirdness is on boot up, sometimes the keyboard will not work. So I can't enter my password to unlock Luks. Again, a hard reset is the only way out. The next time is usually okay, although occasionally it happens twice in a row.

I don't think this is necessarily an System 76 issue. Some of this is likely attributed to needing some updates on the BIOS and some if it may be upstream in other packages.

Generally, Linux serves me well, but some of these issues are embarrassing and downright irritating. A BIOS update and many other updates eventually fixed my old Dell Latitude D630 when it was doing this. I haven't had trouble with that system in almost 2 years now.

[gbutler69]

Good news! We have this fixed! It was an issue related to USB 3 in newer Servals. The fix will be coming down in the System76 Driver in a few days. When it comes, simply update to and run the latest driver to enable the fix.

I just updated to the latest System76 Driver. It is NOT fixed. It does shut-down when I select Hibernate now, as opposed to complaining about USB3 being unable to freeze, but, when I turn it back on, it boots up to a normal login rather than to by session.

I have to say, at this point I'm pretty upset. I've purchased 4 laptops from System76 in as many years and have been fairly happy with my purchases up to this point. I have to say though, that this Serval Professional is turning out to be a lemon. I purchase from System76 believing I am getting hardware that has been properly tested with Ubuntu Linux and is 100% compatible. I even pay extra for the support.

As it stands, I'm hearing a not of "well, Ubuntu really isn't compatible with this hardware....". I'm having issues with the Suspend/Hibernate, the touchpad, the Fans, and I had issues with the ATI video when I first received it.

If I could return it I would. I'm reall fairly disappointed with the entire experience. For the $2,200.00+ I paid, I'd expect to have a much better and smoother experience than this.

If I wanted these kinds of difficulties, I would use random hardware and run Gentoo on it.

If my tone seems angry or upset, well, that's because I am. Consider me an UNHAPPY CUSTOMER!

[gbutler69]

...

I don't think this is necessarily an System 76 issue. Some of this is likely attributed to needing some updates on the BIOS and some if it may be upstream in other packages.

...

In what way exactly are either the need for a BIOS update or hardware incompatibility not a System76 issue? I purchased from System76 with the understanding that the hardware would run Ubuntu without any issues. If I wanted to figure things out and rely on upstream to fix it, I would buy random hardware, not from a company selling laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed.

[pilbender]

In what way exactly are either the need for a BIOS update or hardware incompatibility not a System76 issue? I purchased from System76 with the understanding that the hardware would run Ubuntu without any issues. If I wanted to figure things out and rely on upstream to fix it, I would buy random hardware, not from a company selling laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed.

I can't disagree with your statement here. I too paid over $2,000 for my laptop and I too bought it for the same reasons. I too have been enormously disappointed because I was looking for a better experience. I really wanted to just do my work on my laptop and not have to mess around like this. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angry about it. As my first laptop purchase from System 76, I'd be hesitant to buy another one because the experience has not been better than other laptops and in many ways the experience has been much worse. I feel like I was taken. My Dell D630 works perfectly (like a Mac) but it just wasn't powerful enough for the work I was doing. So I bought this thinking I was doing a good thing.

On the other hand, I have it now. I need this machine for my work and I'm not going to return it. If it was just a consumer device I would have returned it already. It took 2 weeks to get here and I can't afford to not have a powerful machine right now. Also, I spent all my money on it so I can't afford to upgrade my desktop adequately at the moment. Believe me, if I could go back, I would just have upgraded my desktop and done something else on my laptop later.

The reason I mentioned upstream is because most resellers of laptops or other hardware go through common suppliers. So this is more than likely System 76 branded hardware purchased through another vendor which sells to lots of companies like System 76. So there is an upstream (more than likely) for the hardware. Also, the BIOS is a common component shared and purchased amongst many vendors. The X server and NVidia drivers also have upstream responsibilities, obviously.

So I'm all in on this and I really want it to work. And I'll do anything I have to do to make it work. Including not getting mad about it because that doesn't solve the problems. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. And it certainly doesn't mean I like it.

[isantop]

gbutler69's issues actually are not related to the issue fixed in the new System76 Driver, which was related to suspend. The machine now suspends and resumes perfectly.

Our in-shop testing machine hibernates and wakes up fine. Can anyone else replicate the hibernate issue in Ubuntu 10.10?

[pilbender]

I just updated to the latest System76 Driver. It is NOT fixed. It does shut-down when I select Hibernate now, as opposed to complaining about USB3 being unable to freeze, but, when I turn it back on, it boots up to a normal login rather than to by session.

gbutler69's issues actually are not related to the issue fixed in the new System76 Driver, which was related to suspend. The machine now suspends and resumes perfectly.

So the driver for fixing suspend did come out? I checked last weekend and I didn't see any fixes that worked for me. Shall I update again?

Personally, I'd be okay with only suspend working (I think, depends on how long the battery would last with it). I don't use Hibernate myself. I'm mainly looking at being able to shut my lid and throw it in my bag without having to restart all my stuff, which takes at least 10 minutes even on this fast machine. The shutdown and start up is miserable for someone like me. I never shut down my stupid Dell. Thank God. It would be almost useless if I had to shut down a slow machine. Since it suspends, it's actually quite convenient for some things.